No Letdown Here: Penn State 62, Purdue 24

There was lots of talk during the week about a letdown. Going from the biggest game of the season, in one of the best atmospheres in college football to a game everyone expected to be a snoozer, in a stadium with less than half the fans as their previous game, would prove to be a challenge for the Lions.

For the first half of the game, it looked exactly like that. Penn State opened up the scoring on the first drive of the game, but Purdue answered right back. Back and forth the game went, with Penn State not being able to stop Purdue’s quick passing attack. The game went to the half tied at 17.

The Nittany Lions, however, woke up in the second half. As always, defensive adjustments from Brent Pry made all the difference, and everything that worked so well for Purdue in the first half suddenly stopped working. To make matters worse for the Boilermakers, they had four turnovers in the second half (only three during meaningful time), and suddenly a game that was within reach for Purdue quickly got out of hand.

It’s good to see the Nittany Lions face some adversity early, and be able to overcome it. James Franklin tried to do his best impression late in the game, going for it on fourth down late in the game up 55-24. Andre Robinson scored, and you get your score.

There’s not much else to take away from this game aside from Penn State’s ability to take an early punch and be able to respond. The Lions did what they were supposed to. They went on the road against an overmatched opponent and took care of business. No letdowns here. Moving right along.

Three Key Takeaways

1) Second half team, but... - Penn State recovered well in the second half, sitting down Purdue’s offense almost completely, while also being able to execute on offense. They took advantage of multiple turnovers to put the game away fairly quickly. However, it would be ideal if they didn’t dig themselves such first-half holes the rest of the way, as a better team (i.e. Indiana or Iowa) could end up taking advantage.

2) It’s Saquon’s world, and you just live in it - Saquon Barkley did everything today. The running back had 207 yards on the ground, and another 70 yards receiving. When something works, there’s no need to change it.

3) Let’s score some points - Penn State hadn’t scored over 60 points in a game since 2008, when they beat FCS Coastal Carolina 66-10. How’s that for offense?

Looking Ahead

Penn State returns home next Saturday against an Iowa team that does not look as good as initially thought, but can’t be taken lightly. Game kicks off at 7:30 on BTN.